Blog Hopping

Just another hang up

Once a week I get an email from all free sewing.  Today's email was about 15 Quick Impressive Hostess Gifts...not that I give hostess gifts, it doesn't even occur to me and probably if it did I would rather stay at home than come up with a gift to give to the person who invited me over.
Side note
Once I invited someone from church over for lunch with her children and she brought me a hostess gift...it was a Mops flip calendar I think....it made me feel so awkward, I wasn't doing anything special, just had them over for lunch...I just wanted to be her friend, hostess gifts to me seem so formal...shows the circles I ran in. I do remember my uncle's Austrian wife always bringing something to whomever was cooking dinner but I always just associated it with Eva being giving, not as a requirement...which points out an obvious character flaw in myself...I must not be giving. I remember Jenette giving me a framed Flavia print, when she came to visit me once in Palm Bay after Emmett was born...Jenette is giving.
Off the rabbit trail now.
When I went to all free sewing and clicked on this idea, it took me here and here and this one I have looked at before and was so happy to look at again because it is adorable. These patterns are also lovely to look at but I know I will never make any of this stuff because I can't even keep my house clean let alone have time to sit and sew for hours on end...speaking of which, time to go do the dishes.

Busyness

After my success with the toothpaste cover up tee shirt I decided to try my hand at a shirt for my sister.  I found a plain button up t-shirt at Old Navy for $5.99 to embellish and picked up a white McCain Palin tee shirt for $.50 at our local bargain store to cut up.
I cut strips off the bottom of the scrap shirt and then ran them through the sewing machine to gather them and then sewed it around the neck and buttons. I was just going to sew one row on but it really needed two so the night before she left I sewed another one on.  Originally I was going to do a rosette but the Old Navy shirt was a scoop neck and the rosette would end up being a decoration of another sort if you know what I mean.  I've spent the last half hour trying to upload the picture of my practice shirt and can't figure out how to do it...why, I have no idea...had no problem putting up the other pictures.  And that my friends is why I could never get into the blog "business"



Then, since the whole reason I started on this sew crafting was because I saw The Pleated Poppy's post on crayon rolls...I made one for Elise and one for my niece Claire.  I think I followed the instructions/measurements but the first one (the blue and brown) was too long and the crayons were getting lost in their pockets so I sewed a piece of rick rack to keep them from going down too far. So with the pink one I made it smaller.  I had picked up the pink and blue fabrics years ago with their coordinating striped fabric but for some reason the pink and brown stripe decided to go into the witness protection system and is hiding out in parts unknown so I had to substitute the pink gingham...not the perfect match but Claire didn't seem to mind. I've finished my projects and don't have anything new to work on...now I just need to finish the kajillion other things that are lying around...

Validation

Tuesday Emmett and I played a 1/2 dozen games of No Stress Chess and I embellished a t-shirt.  My friend Tracy surprised me with a Barnes and Noble gift certificate for my birthday and since I couldn't figure out which book to buy I bought the Chess game and I am so glad I did.  6 years ago I bought a Klutz Chess Book/Kit and taught John-Thomas and Stewart the basic of Chess but somehow I didn't learn.  Go figure. I am a slow learner and not very competitive nor do I have the drive for accomplishment.

Where does the shirt come in you ask?

Here's the deal, I bought the magenta Mossimo t-shirt for a couple of bucks at Tar-J and within a week I had three tiny toothpaste stains spaced equi-distant down the front. Since it was so cheap it shouldn't have mattered except I loved the way the shirt fit and how comfy it was.  

Also on Tuesday I scanned back through my blog posts just in case someone had left a comment and Suprise, Surprise they did!  So of course I had to go see if she had posted anything new and then I went to her Sister-in-Law's blog to see what she had going on. I found the answer to my shirt problem on her page.  Emmett and I made a quick trip to the thrift store that has a large section of their clothes for $1 and I came home, cut it up and sewed it on and Ve-o-la, as my husband would say! But I am not an over achiever so that was enough work for almost the whole week, except that I knew if I didn't post it today it wouldn't get posted.  I wore it Tuesday night to John-Thomas's award dinner and ceremony for kids that have kept a 3.5+ their middle school years and didn't receive any validation from the friends I saw...that's okay, right? No, I probably wouldn't have worn it out in public again except for on the way home we had to stop at Publix and as we were driving through the parking lot I spied my friend Tracy's car and my other Friend Susan's car because it was Tuesday and they were at Crazy Sushi in the same shopping plaza as Publix.  I asked Josh if he could pick me up on his way out and he agreed so I popped in on their Edamame and do you know what the first thing they said to me as I plopped my self down?  CUTE SHIRT.  ahhhh, validation

The big picture

On several blogs I have seen ornament wreaths and it is something I have wanted to make for a couple of years but I really couldn't see shelling out even $10 bucks for the ornaments. Over Thanksgiving, Jennifer and I went to a Thrift store and I found a bag of ornaments for $1 and happily scooped them up with the wreath in mind...I pay a buck for anything. Really though, I have been thinking if I saved all those $1 spent here and there I really might be able to accumulate a stash to spend on something more substantial,...maybe even send to a mission...but I digress.
Last week when I put the balls on the hanger (possibly our only metal hanger) they only filled the hanger half way up. Didn't I know it would take a colossal bag to actually make a small wreath...and now what do I do?
I left it hanging on one of the spare chairs in my dining room not wanting to make a decision about it.
Last night Josh and I were out at a "dollar store" and I only had a few things to get but you have to spend $5 to use your debit so I got three tubes of balls and Viola, two problems solved in one.

Two years ago I took Elise and Emmett to see Santa and took a wonderful picture of them, last year I tried to do the same and again this year. This year's isn't bad, it just isn't as good as two years ago. I stood in the same spot as two years ago but I should have stood on the other side so that the tree would be in the picture instead of his side table and lamp. Sometimes I can't see the big picture.
I am hoping to see the big picture in the next 4 days and not go into pre-travel freak out mode.

Almost Homemade Birthday

Elise turned 5 on Tuesday.
I finished the Birthday Banner on Monday....not real happy with it, I used bias tape instead of some other tape I can't think of......more shabby than chic.
Elise has been asking for months for Josh to build her a dollhouse. He had it in his head to get a kit...I didn't think he was following through with but what was delivered Monday morning? So he started it around 5 and I started helping him around 10 and we went to bed at 2 without getting all the shingles on. The valleys on that roof were a pain to shingle...Josh was very diligent about getting all the cuts just so.
We got a cake from Publix...way to big...it's gone to waist.
Elise has been sick since last Friday and now I have it...not as bad but I still feel yucky and I haven't done any real exercise in over a week and my hair is starting to fall out again and I feel like a blob so something has gotta give...
Sorry, talking about myself again...Elise had a very nice Birthday some homemade, some not. When my mom heard about the dollhouse she quick whipped up a lovely little chair...yesterday when I tried to whip up a bed it looked shabby to say the least.
Alright before I digress again, I hope you have a wonderful day.
God Bless You!

Do I Dare?

Okay, I've got the Happy Birthday letters cut out of pink felt...so that's a good start but do I continue?
What in the world am I talking about?
You've seen them...the fabric birthday banners...well, Elise's birthday is next Tuesday and I would like to make one for our little get together but I'm afraid it's too late to continue with the project tonight and I'm not sure if I want the rounded edge, the triangle or the square look? And you know I didn't do my research before I cut out the letters...I just used plain ole simple block letters...what was I thinking...a creative font would've looked so much better?
If only I was as creative as Emmett and his blue jay that he molded out of clay for his K12 art assignment then I would be sure that it be wonderful...but I really don't want to spend a couple of hours on this and have it turn out sloppy and no...I'm not asking Mom to do it for me...

If my sewing machine was working this would have been ordered this morning. Last night after the boys had their free guitar lesson at the library we perused the teen section and I found this book. I love the idea of knitting but haven't been able to make myself do it regularly. Sounds a lot like my quiet times. What about you? What do you like the idea of doing, but need a kick in the pants to accomplish?

Is it time?

Yesterday on Martha Stewart she showed how to make the fabric organizer I crudely attempted before Christmas. Didn't get to see the episode but fortunately the kids turned on Martha again today at lunch...which reminded me. On the page where I found the instructions I also found a website for Oilcloth. Unfortunately they are a wholesale only site and you have to email them to find a retailer near you.
Today's show had Dr. Brent Ridge making goat milk soap. Sounds like something we'd like to do, if we had goats to freshly milk and a place to let the soap cure for a month, Blah, Blah, Blah.
Is it time to make something yet?
Elise says she is ready....for me to read some books.